BRUSSELS – The number of Belgian bankruptcies fell during the first quarter of 2005 over the previous year, it was revealed Tuesday.

In March 2005, 763 companies declared bankruptcy, a drop of 7.6% compared to March 2004 figures, reports the Belga news agency.

A total of 2,094 companies declared bankruptcy in Belgium between January and March of this year. This was a drop of 2.5% compared to the same period in 2004.

Bankruptcies fell by 4.3% in Flanders and 6.6% in Wallonia over the same three-month period.

Bucking the general trend, Brussels reported an 11.2% rise in bankruptcies over last year.

Still, there was an overall 17.4% decline in bankruptcies over the same three-month period for industry.

The contstruction sector remained stable, while bankruptcies fell by 5.4% in the commerce sector.

And the particularly fragile HORECA (hotel, restaurant, catering) sector saw a 3.4% drop in bankruptcies.

Bankruptcies also fell by 3.3% in the transport and other service sectors.

[Copyright Expatica 2005]

Subject : Belgian news